Long-term persistence of prevalently detected human papillomavirus infections in the absence of detectable cervical precancer and cancer

Philip E. Castle, Ana Cecilia Rodríguez, Robert D. Burk, Rolando Herrero, Sholom Wacholder, Allan Hildesheim, Jorge Morales, Greg Rydzak, Mark Schiffman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background. Detailed descriptions of long-term persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the absence of cervical precancer are lacking. Methods. In a large, population-based natural study conducted in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, we studied a subset of 810 initially HPV-positive women with ≥3 years of active follow-up with ≥3 screening visits who had no future evidence of cervical precancer. Cervical specimens were tested for >40 HPV genotypes using a MY09/11 L1-targeted polymerase chain reaction method. Results. Seventy-two prevalently-detected HPV infections (5%) in 58 women (7%) persisted until the end of the follow-up period (median duration of follow-up, 7 years) without evidence of cervical precancer. At enrollment, women with long-term persistence were more likely to have multiple prevalently-detected HPV infections (P<.001) than were women who cleared their baseline HPV infections during follow-up. In a logistic regression model, women with long-term persistence were more likely than women who cleared infections to have another newly-detected HPV infection detectable at ≥3 visits (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-5.6). Conclusions. Women with long-term persistence of HPV infection appear to be generally more susceptible to other HPV infections, especially longer-lasting infections, than are women who cleared their HPV infections.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)814-822
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume203
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 15 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Infectious Diseases

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